New Deputy Head of School at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences

Professor Amy Jordan was recently appointed as the Deputy Head of School at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences (MSPS). Professor Jordan is currently Director of the Sleep Laboratory. She is also an Honorary Fellow at the Institute for Breathing and Sleep, Austin Health. She joins the school’s exemplary leadership team led by Professor Rob Hester.

Prof Jordan completed her PhD at the University of Adelaide in the Adelaide Institute of Sleep Health in 2002. She then completed a post-doctoral fellowship and attained a Junior Faculty position at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, before returning to Australia and joining the University of Melbourne in 2009. Her research interests span all aspects of “sleep”. However, the vast majority of her research has investigated the causes and consequences of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Current projects include several investigating the neural control of upper airway muscles, the relationship between sleep and mental health in airline cabin crew, as well as the role of sleep in the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Professor Jordan’s passion for research is no secret and was quoted as saying “the thing I love most about research is that it is like a puzzle that no one knows the solution to. I love the aspect of designing and then conducting studies to answer important research questions.”
Professor Jordan’s ambitions synchronise with the broader goals of the schools. “One of them is to conduct high quality, internationally recognised research to further our understanding of sleep physiology both in health and disease, particularly sleep disordered breathing,” she said.

Professor Jordan is deeply motivated about educating and inspiring future generations of health professionals through the teaching of current concepts in biological psychology, sleep physiology and medicine via Honours, Masters and PhD student supervision as well as training of clinical fellows.

Looking forward, Professor Jordan is confident the School will make a remarkable difference in the field of psychological sciences. She said “The training we provide and networks we build at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences will continue to be the benchmark that our partners and the community at large will appreciate and I’m confident that we will continue to make that positive difference.”